novelraw Chapter 698: Around Him
Chapter 698: Around Him
The town leader, Enva Ebilie, couldn't fathom where the young woman's confidence came from, but he knew that without them, he would still be a prisoner of the nobility.
“Do you have any friends or enemies you could recommend, Viscount Khamis?” Anna asked.
“Alva Reis, the wealthiest merchant in town,” replied Viscount Khamis, reluctant to share power, though he understood the final decision wasn't his to make. “We’re on rather good terms.”
“That miser...” the town leader Enva Ebilie snorted. He clearly disliked the man the viscount had mentioned. “I doubt he’ll agree, let alone willingly share his supplies.”
“I will try to persuade him. And if that doesn’t work...” Viscount Khamis gave Lu Li and Anna a pointed look.
Viscount Khamis departed from the estate to meet with his friend, while the town leader headed to his own residence to gather his guards before the other aristocrats could make a move. He also sent a trusted man to accompany Lu Li and keep him updated.
Meanwhile, Lu Li returned to the inn. The survivors had gathered in the common room, discussing what to do next—they didn’t even have a roof over their heads.
Lu Li told them about the impending relocation to Storm Cape. The people had no reason to refuse.
They placed a blind faith in Lu Li, and besides, at Storm Cape, they at least wouldn’t face starvation, unlike in Revoltown.
Lu Li crushed the stone medallion, summoning the Trader.“How many residents are left in Revoltown?” Lu Li asked the town leader’s messenger.
“...People are leaving constantly. There are fewer than twenty thousand now.”
Lu Li bought a hundred crates of canned pork from the Trader on the condition that he be provided an empty, isolated warehouse. The town leader's messenger went to make the arrangements, securing a vacant warehouse on the west side of town for Lu Li.
Half an hour later, the Trader appeared and confirmed that the goods had been delivered. A guard posted at the warehouse soon ran back, reporting that the building was now filled to the brim with wooden crates.
No one knew how the Trader had managed to transport a hundred crates of canned food there.
In addition to the food, the Trader upgraded Lu Li’s anomaly detector. Now, besides Silence, Shadow Stealing Fire, and the Visible Song, it could sense the approach of the Swarm of Sufferings through a low whisper and other evil spirits through a characteristic hiss.
“The detector will warn you of an evil spirit’s presence nearby, but it won’t be able to determine its type,” the Trader explained.
Lu Li stared silently at the anomaly detector.
Anna curiously took the detector, which still resembled a small, fist-sized cube. “Will it detect vengeful spirits?”
The detector was silent.
“No,” the Trader replied.
With their business concluded, the Trader left the inn. Anna returned the detector to Lu Li. He asked the town leader’s messenger to post more guards at the warehouse, then, accompanied by a few strong men from the rescued village, he headed to the town leader's residence.
Viscount Khamis had returned, and with him was the wealthy merchant Alva Reis—a portly man dressed in clothes embroidered with gold thread, a wig perched on his head.
His respectful demeanor toward Lu Li and Anna was tinged with a shadow of doubt. He believed Viscount Khamis’s words, as the viscount had been the staunchest opponent of the relocation. However, the merchant suspected that Lu Li and Anna’s “power” was nothing more than some kind of trick.
Anna dispelled his doubts by lifting Alva Reis into the air and spinning him around.
“My food stores are only slightly larger than Viscount Khamis’s, but I have plenty of money,” said Alva Reis, puffing out his chest at the mention of his wealth.
The provisions “donated” by Alva Reis and Viscount Khamis, combined with the hundred crates of canned food, were barely enough to sustain the people on their journey.
Anna instructed them to continue winning over the nobility and the wealthy. This was not just for the sake of provisions but also to reduce resistance when they left the city at dawn.
“At dawn?” Enva Ebilie was taken aback. He had thought they would have a full day to prepare and that the relocation would begin the following morning.
“We don’t have that much time,” Anna answered.
“Very well... But we’ll need to change the plan,” the town leader said, approving of her decisiveness.
He assembled all his guards and the personal security of Alva Reis and Viscount Khamis, ordering them to notify the residents.
Hundreds of soldiers carrying torches fanned out through the streets, knocking on every door.
Sleepy residents opened their doors, letting the night chill and the bright torchlight into their homes. The soldiers informed them that at dawn, they were to set out for Storm Cape, where there were plenty of houses and enough food. They would also receive a can of pork conserve at the city gates.
And so, unlike the usual quiet nights, Revoltown was now unusually loud.
To impress Lu Li and Anna, Alva Reis spent a small fortune buying up all the available food in the city and hired the only two exorcists he could find.
However, they were not professionals, just ordinary people who knew a few methods of spirit-warding.
By late night, Alva Reis and Viscount Khamis had managed to persuade a few more aristocrats, but only five of them agreed to give up all their food supplies. The rest either simply joined the exodus or offered negligible help that cost them nothing.
Some aristocrats refused to leave, and the short-tempered Alva Reis cursed them, calling them a bunch of stubborn old fools who would perish along with the city.
To everyone's surprise, these aristocrats, who had once conspired against Enva Ebilie, now developed a rather friendly, even respectful, relationship with the town leader himself. Unlike them, donating food and money didn't cost Enva Ebilie everything he had.
His most valuable asset was his title as town leader, and by leaving Revoltown, he would lose it all.
“What good is the title of town leader if all my people are dead?” Enva Ebilie declared.
Lu Li, Anna, and the aristocrats gathered at the town leader’s residence, waiting for dawn.
Five o’clock in the morning. There were forty minutes left until sunrise.
The streets grew noisy. The guards were sent out once more to rouse the residents.
An adult man might be able to walk sixty-five kilometers, but it was an impossible distance for women, the elderly, and children. The earlier they set out, the better their chances of reaching Storm Cape before nightfall.
When Lu Li and the others arrived at the city gates, a crowd of people had already gathered with their families and belongings. Piled high near the gates were crates of canned food and the provisions donated by the wealthy.
The town leader, Enva Ebilie, gave a speech and then introduced Lu Li to the people, crediting him as the initiator of the relocation plan.
The crowd’s grateful cheers echoed through the air. Lu Li glanced at Anna. “But this was your plan.”
“I’m a ghost. I have no need for fame, but you could use it,” Anna winked, taking Lu Li’s hand with her translucent white one.
More and more people were gathering in the streets. As the first rays of sunlight appeared, a squad of riders galloped out of Revoltown. They carried a letter from Enva Ebilie, aiming to be the first to reach Storm Cape.
When it grew light enough that torches were no longer needed, the great exodus began.
People received their portion of food and a can of conserves, still flecked with wood shavings, and joyfully left Revoltown. Those at the back stood on their tiptoes, watching as the people ahead collected their supplies.
The hundred crates of canned food formed a small mountain, so the people didn't have to worry that there wouldn't be enough for them.